Thursday, July 03, 2008

The Dublin GAA Supporters Club fully supports the decision of Colin Moran, the Dublin Management Team & the Dublin County Board in appealing the CCCC decision to impose a one month ban for the accident in which Colin had already been penalised by the referee.

It seems more than coincidental that the decision to invite the referee to re-examine the collision occurred after a selective "forensic" examination of the match by the Sunday Game panel. This arbitrary process which by its nature is selective in examining certain incidents and not others is unfair, & particularly unfair to Dublin players, whose games, as a result of high viewing figures, are most often shown on TV. Dublin supporters remember well that the trouble at the Cork v. Armagh NFL game was ignored while the Dublin v. Meath game received extraordinary attention.

The process of Sunday game analysis is by its nature unfair as it can only be possible to examine a certain number of incidents within the allotted short timeframe. As a result not even all incidents in the same game are examined. As Co. Chairman Gerry Harrington explains:

"Shane Ryan had to come off for treatment to a facial injury following an incident that happened subsequent to the 1st injury. This wasn't highlighted on the Sunday Game and we heard nothing at all about that. Maybe it was unintentional, but how come the Collie Moran incident was discussed on the Sunday Game and he gets a four-week ban?"

Irish Independent columnist and TV pundit Eugene McGee expresses similar concerns and wonders whether "there was any incident in the Down-Armagh game last week that deserved similar treatment by 'The Sunday Game' experts?"

The second problem with this Sunday game analysis is that the slow motion coverge often exaggerates the relevant incident. In this instance the collision between Colin and the Westmeath player looks far worse through freeze frame than in real time. Any reasonable examination of the incident will see that there was no intent to injure the Westmeath player, indeed as the independent Eugene McGee explains "Dermot Bannon fell accidentally & was hit with full force by the Dublin player who was in the act of shouldering him. Unluckily for Bannon he fell at the point of impact from Moran and, what would have been an ordinary shoulder, ended with an injury to Bannon's shoulder-joint which caused his retirement." The referee who was well placed judged the incident & penalised Colin Moran with a yellow card, a decision which, as McGee puts it, was supported by himself & the vast majority of the crowd.

Finally any possibility that the Sunday Game is more important in deciding on issues which can occur in matches than the referee involved is a very dangerous road to travel. Refereeing decisions which are subsequently changed can only lead to a point where confidence in the referees will be removed & decisions on the field will inevitably be made with one eye on the TV camera.

Colin Moran is a clean sporting player who has previously captained his county with distinction. He is a model GAA player on and off the field & has been poorly treated by this process. It is hoped that his appeal will prove successful & his good name restored.

Dublin supporters are angered by his treatment & are angered by the selective attitude of the Sunday Game. The Club notes that there is a text message campaign underway calling on Dublin fans to boycott the Sunday Game and will support Dublins County Board & Teams on whatever action they may feel necessary up to and including withdrawal of all support from the national broadcaster.